FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, February 24, 2017

Brooklyn Man Sentenced to 24 Years in State Prison
For Fatally Shooting Reveler during 2014 J’Ouvert Celebration

Defendant Opened Fire into Crowd of People

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 28-year-old Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 24 years in prison after pleading guilty last month to first-degree manslaughter for fatally shooting a man during the J’Ouvert celebration that was held in advance of the 2014 West Indian Day Parade.

Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant has now been held accountable for a senseless shooting that took the life of a 55-year-old man who was a beloved father and grandfather. What should have been a joyous cultural celebration was marred by this tragic shooting. Such violence, whether during J’Ouvert or anywhere else in Brooklyn, will not go unpunished.”

The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Derek Goodings, 28, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today to 24 years in prison and five years’ post release supervision by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Vincent Del Giudice. The defendant pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter last month shortly after jury selection had commenced.

The Acting District Attorney said that, according to the defendant’s allocution, on September 1, 2014, at approximately 3:30 a.m., in the vicinity of Empire Boulevard, during the J’Ouvert celebration that precedes the annual West Indian Day Parade, the defendant fired a loaded weapon into a crowd of people. He fired five times, striking Michael Sampson, 55, in the chest, killing him and injuring another man. He also fired at an unmarked police van in which a uniformed police officer was sitting, striking it.

The defendant fled the scene and, while he was being chased by police, turned his gun on an officer, who discharged his service weapon.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Melissa Carvajal, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Taub, Bureau Chief.